JA Joubert Architecture[1] was hoping that their design for a condominium project in Tirana, Albania would help break the cycle of monotony and bland architecture in the expanding city. What was countryside beyond the city center only ten years ago has now become a series of box factories, warehouses, stores and apartment complexes stretching along a highway. The Netherlands-based firm proposes to revitalize the strip of land with a new condominium complex featuring terraced garden[2]s on innovative interior cutouts.

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Greenside Out is a mixed-use housing development[5], which won 2nd place in an invited design competition and includes housing, office and commercial space. The design for the 9,000 sq meter complex emerged from a block form with spherical cutouts taken from the center. These cutouts provide a safer, more sheltered and private space for the residents. Each level is terraced with garden space[6] wrapping the interior courtyard.

More garden space and vegetation in the courtyards and gardens around the building make for a more pleasant and inviting place to live. JA Joubert Architecture had envisioned the project to become a new benchmark in architectural design and help transform the city from a centrally focused city to a radial development minimizing the need for people to commute into the city center[7].